High-flying balloon sisters keen to expand in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya’s colourful hot air balloon fiestas are a big hit with foreign and local visitors but few would have known that the annual affair is piloted by two feisty women.
Nur Izzati Khairudin, 30, and her sister Nur Atiqah, 28, who also have the distinction of being Malaysia’s first women hot air balloon pilots, have struck out on their own and coped well in the male-dominated industry.
And, to think neither of them had a career or business in the hot air balloon industry in mind whilst growing up, although their father Captain Khairudin Abdul Rani ran a company that offered hot air ballooning services.
His sudden death in 2012, following a heart attack, left the girls in a quandary, wondering whether they should continue with their own careers or take over AKA Balloon Sdn Bhd, which was set up by their father in 1995.
“An apple does not fall far from the tree,” so goes an idiom; likewise, the sisters resolved to take over their late father’s business and steer his passion to new heights.
Nur Izzati, who has a degree in Accounting from Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam, said her father -- who became Malaysia’s first hot air balloon pilot after obtaining his licence in 2009 -- became interested in the industry after he went on a hot air balloon ride during a holiday in Switzerland whilst he was a student in the United Kingdom.
“He had always hoped that his children would take over his business one day, but the idea never crossed my mind while I was busy studying,” she told Bernama, adding that she was doing her professional training at Ernst and Young when her father’s company initiated the Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta eight years ago.
“Atiqah and I used to help him manage the event and that was how we became acquainted with the industry.”
After taking over AKA Balloon in 2012, the sisters got down to familiarising themselves with the business before venturing to get their own hot air balloon pilot licence in Spain two years ago.
Nur Izzati’s face lit up as she recollected her training stint in Spain before acquiring her licence.
“Only when you are riding on a hot air balloon are you able to experience the beauty around you as the rays of sunlight shine through the clouds... the feeling is indescribable and you can’t experience this when you are flying in a plane,” she said.
Nur Izzati, who is AKA Balloon chief executive officer, said it was not easy to pilot a hot air balloon as it required highly specialised skills.
“We’ve to seriously and carefully study the various technical aspects (associated with hot air balloons). While steering the craft, we’ve to always follow the wind direction but we’ve to keep our focus and concentrate on all directions because even the slightest carelessness on our part can lead to tragedy,” she added.
Explaining how a hot air balloon is inflated, Nur Izzati said the inflation process usually took 15 to 20 minutes, during which the burner is lighted by pumping liquid petroleum gas (LPG) into the tank located beneath the burner. As the heat from the fire gets into the balloon, also known as the skirt envelope, it rises up in the air.
Each balloon is equipped with three LPG cylinders, each weighing 20 kilogrammes, with enough fuel to sustain a onehour ride.
“Each balloon can carry up to four passengers, depending on their physical size, and can fly up to a height of 90 metres or higher at any one time,” said Nur Izzati.
She said the balloon rides were usually offered early in the morning and in the evening as that was the time the wind conditions tend to be suitable for such adventures.
“When we set out on our balloon, we don’t know where we will land because it all depends on the wind direction,” she said, adding that to make sure their balloons were of high quality, her company sourced them from the United States and Spain.
Nur Izzati hopes to expand Malaysia’s hot air balloon industry as she feels the country has the requisites to ensure its success. For instance, its weather conditions allow operators to offer ballooning all-year round, compared with Europe where the service is available only during specific seasons.
“The balloons cannot be used during winter but here in Malaysia, there is no extreme changes in the weather and we can fly the hot air balloons anywhere most of the time,” she said.
Last year, the two siblings together with their crew went on a hot air balloon expedition across nine states in Peninsular Malaysia in search of new places to fly.
Dubbed “Life on Air”, the expedition from Sept 2 to Oct 22 saw the duo and their team taking off from Putrajaya and stopping at Terengganu, Pahang, Perak, Kelantan, Perlis, Kedah, Johor and, finally, Melaka.
“We wanted to create more awareness on ballooning among youngsters, so we stopped at selected schools in the various states to hold workshops and share our knowledge with the students,” Nur Izzati said, adding that she and her sister planned to open a school to conduct hot air balloon pilot training courses to produce more Malaysian balloon pilots.
Nur Izzati, meanwhile, informed that her company would be shifting the venue for this year’s hot air balloon fiesta from Putrajaya to Desa ParkCity, here. To be held from March 10 to 12, the event tagged My Balloon Fiesta will feature 18 balloons from 10 countries.
“Among the balloons are one in the shape of a rooster from Thailand; Tako II and Happy Chan from Japan; Dexter the Happy Flame from the Netherlands; and one in the shape of an egg that’s hatching,” she said.
Hot air balloon rides will be available in the morning during the three-day event at RM300 per adult and RM250 per child. All the balloons will be exhibited from 6pm to 7pm, while the Night Glow Show will be held from 8.30pm to 10.30pm.
“Malaysians don’t have to travel to Europe or Cappadocia in Turkey to experience a hot air balloon ride... they can try it out during our My Balloon Fiesta and get to see beautiful scenery from the sky,” added Nur Izzati. - Bernama